JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—The High Point University women’s golf team is in second place and freshman Samantha Vodry is tied for the lead after the first round of the Bulldog Florida Invitational Wednesday (March 8) at the Windsor Parke Golf Club (Par 72 – 6,003 yards) in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Panthers sit in second place after shooting a combined 26-over 314, four strokes behind leader Stetson (310). Butler and Western Carolina are tied for third 11 strokes behind HPU at 325.
“While we did not put up a score we are happy with, there were a few key takeaways from today’s round,” HPU head coach Alexis Bennett said. “One is that this team is learning how to make birdies, which is crucial as we get later into the spring. Second, even without our best golf, we are still in contention to come back for the win tomorrow. That should give us a lot of confidence going into the second round.
“I love the way this team never quits; each of them fights to the very last shot and that will pay off sooner rather than later. We just have to learn to eliminate the big numbers and we will find ourselves at the top of more and more leaderboards.”
Vodry is tied for the individual lead with a first-round score of 3-over 75. Fellow freshman and regining Big South Freshman of the Week Tonrak Tasaso is tied for 10th at 7-over (79), while senior Danielle Fuss and junior Cayla Smith are one stroke behind at 8-over (80) in a tie for 12th. Freshman Anna-Marie Kuenzle, making her Spring debut for HPU, is tied for 21st at 11-over (83).
The second and final round will be contested Thursday (March 9).